Pages

Monday, January 30, 2012

Ahhh... the famous British pasty. By definition, a "pasty" is dish-less pie filled with venison or other meats. This hand-held treat has been enjoyed for centuries by kings, queens and common peasants a-like, with some references pointing to its beginnings as far back as the 13th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the pastry reached its height in popularity. It is said that the tin miners of Cornwall took these pasties with them to the mines. The pasty's densely folded crust would keep its contents warm for hours or could be easily reheated on a shovel positioned over a candle.

Textually, the County of Cornwall, a peninsula located in the southern part of England, takes claim to the origin of the original pasty. However, in 2006, a researcher in the neighboring county of Devon found a pasty recipe in an audit book dated 1510, beating out Cornwall's previous record of 1746. The Devon recipe called for venison from the Mount Edgecumbe Estate and was considered a dish fit for the wealthy.

There are many "right" ways of making a pasty, and in all honesty, it doesn't really matter. It's a dish that's supposed to be made with whatever you have on hand. Our crust is not so dense. We have opted out from making the iconic "side-crimp." (It is rumored that miners ate their pasties by holding this discard-able thick edge, so their dirty fingers would not touch their mouths or food.) Another funny theory suggests that pasties were initialed or marked at one end and eaten from the other. This way, if the owner does not finish his pasty in one go, he can easily reclaim it later on.Anyway, all rumors and theories aside, we chose to simply fill our pasties with shredded venison cooked in beef broth and red wine, allspice, goat cheese and raisins. The crust is good, so no need to discard it. It was really a fun dish to make because it's so different from what we've done before.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Imagine large, tender chunks of venison slowly simmering away in a broth of hearty red wine, sweet brandy, ripe tomatoes and fragrant herbs like lavender and thyme. After a few hours, this stew will fill your home with the most inviting smells. Following the French tradition, a lot of alcohol was used along with a small handful of herbes de Provence, a mixture of herbs indigenous to the Mediterranean, Southern part of France. Ladies, this is the perfect meal to welcome your beloved hunter home. After a cold day of being out in the field, he will surely appreciate this warm meal. (All political correctness aside-- I usually go with him, but when it's cold, I volunteer to stay inside. I'd rather stay home and cook than freeze my butt off. Let the man bring home the meat. You know what I'm sayin'?)And for all you gentlemen out there, she'll appreciate you helping with the dishes. Rick does and I love him for it. ;-)

Servings: 6

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 2.5 hours

Ingredients:

- 3 lbs.venison roast

- 2 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

- 2 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

- 1 cup of shallots, thinly sliced

- 2 tbs. brandy

- 2 tbs. tomato paste

- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

- 2 tsp. herbes de Provence

- 2 cups of hearty red wine

- 1 14.5 ounce can of whole, peeled tomatoes

- 4 strips of orange zest (2.5 inches long, removed with a peeler)

- 1 lb. (2 cups) of carrots, cut into 3/4 - 1 inch thick chunks

- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

- fresh parsley for garnish, chopped (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Position rack to the lower third of oven.

Monday, January 16, 2012

There are lettuce wraps for Beverly Hills housewives and there are lettuce wraps for meat-eating, huntin' good ol' boys and girls. This is for the latter. Trust us. Lettuce wraps aren't just for girls.

Using Chatellier's Rare Game Sauce, we marinated venison roast for 4 hours and basted them with the same sauce on the grill. What resulted was a unique and smoky piece of meat, kind of like barbeque sauce but different. The sauce paired perfectly with the corn salsa we made, which also had a smokey punch with ingredients such asgrilled corn, tomatoes, red onion and fresh sage. To tie everything together, thinly sliced, flavorful pieces of grilled venison and corn salsa topped romaine lettuce leaves for extra crunch. We bet you can't eat just one. But it's so healthy that you don't have to feel bad about eating more than one! These are great for a meal or an appetizer for parties. Enjoy with a White Zinfandel wine and tortillas chips to dip in extra salsa.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Hello All! Rick here again. This week's recipe is one that I have wanted to do for some time. A lot of people don't care for the taste of goose, snow goose in particular. I think it has gotten a bad rap, really. Cook it the right way and you have a flavorful piece of meat. With this in mind, I wanted to take this meat and add some ingredients that would complement it, mainly mozzarella cheese and sauteed mushrooms with onions. Now, not to go the usual dinner route, I married this with lettuce, tomato and placed everything in a 6' french roll. What really gave it some pop ( Bam!) was the mayo-horse radish spread that I made. Yaa-umm!! Tonight, I had this sammich with a hot bowl of Venison-Barley soup. Very nice on a cold winter's night! ; )

We would like to thank our friend and waterfowler supreme Bryan Adams for slipping me a couple of snow goose breast for this recipe. Give Bryan a big Boo-yaa!

California's Salton Sea is a popular place for waterfowlers to flock.

Prep Time: 12 hours

Cook Time: Less than 30 minutes

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

- 2 snow goose breasts

- 8 cups water

- 1/4 cup kosher salt

- 2 '6 inch soft french rolls

- seasoned pepper, to taste

- garlic powder, to taste

- mozzarella cheese slices

- tomato, sliced

- lettuce

- 1 package sliced white mushrooms

- 1/2 cup onion, sliced

- 2 tbs. butter

- 4 splashes of Worcestershire sauce

- 1/4 cup mayonnaise

- 1/4 tbs. prepared horseradish sauce

1. Simmer 8 cups of water and 1/4 cup of kosher salt until salt dissolves. Cool. Pour into a zip lock bag and place breasts into the bag. Refrigerate overnight. Here's a helpful video about brining water fowl breasts by Scott Leysath. It's a must watch.: http://realtree.tv/watch/dmlkZW89ODgw/duck-cheesesteak-sandwich

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

After brining, rinse goose breasts through cold water, dab dry with a paper towel and remove silver-skin and fat.

Rick and Jen

Food for Hunters was created to provide both hunters and non-hunters different ways to prepare and consider game. Rick and I have been at this for a little over 4 years now, and we’re proud to say that our blog has grown and evolved into its very own. For us, “Food for Hunters” does not simply mean the tidbits and morsels we consume from a plate. “Food” can take on other meanings—it’s the fuel that feeds our hearts, thoughts and souls as hunters and human beings. With that being said, please enjoy our recipes and our occasional ramblings on food, the outdoors and local curiosities.